A request for $414,284 in repairs to the docking barge for the Hawaii Superferry to land at Kahului Harbor will exhaust the state harbors appropriation for ferry-related improvements, Deputy Transportation Director Mike Formby said Friday.
Funds for additional projects required to modify state harbors to accommodate the Superferry "will come from somebody other than the state," said Formby, who heads the Harbors Division.
He was responding to questions raised by a request from the Harbors Division for an exemption from state procurement requirements for a contract to repair the docking barge at Kahului.
According to the request filed Monday, an inspection of the barge found there is damage to the hull where it is being pushed against the pier when the Superferry is in port.
"Immediate repairs to the barge must be accomplished before a potential disastrous and life-threatening leak develops in the hull from the continued daily tug-supported operations," the application said. "The urgency to repair the barge is heightened during the winter storm months that are currently upon us."
The docking barge was constructed by the state to allow the 350-foot Superferry to unload vehicles onto Pier 2. It was among improvements required under an agreement for the state to provide harbor improvements for the Superferry, for which the state allocated $40 million.
But the location at the end of Pier 2 is subject to heavy surge from north swells that wash into the harbor. When the barge was set up at Pier 2 last winter, the severe surge snapped cables holding it to the pier leading to a temporary solution of having a tugboat push against the barge to hold it to the pier when the ferry came in to dock.
According to the request for repairs, the force of the tugboat pushing against the hull every day "has resulted in fairly significant interior damage to the barge." The exemption request said the state will contract with Healy Tibbitts Builders Inc., the company that built and installed the barge and is familiar with the conditions in Kahului Harbor.
If the exemption is approved, the contractor would have until Jan. 31 to complete the repairs. Formby said the work can be done in place and would not affect Superferry operations.
An official with Maui Tomorrow Foundation, one of three organizations challenging the Superferry operations, said the situation with the docking barge underlines the issues raised by the state's failure to perform an environmental assessment on the Superferry.
"When you go back all the way to the beginning and realize that the Army Corps of Engineers said that there would be impacts from the winter surf on the end of the pier, that is why there needed to be an environmental review," said Irene Bowie, Maui Tomorrow executive director.
"This illustrates again the poor planning that went on," she said. "You would just hope that the state and the owners would now recognize the importance of doing a complete environmental review, that these kinds of problems could have been foreseen."
While the state is paying for the repairs, Formby said the state has no funds to pay for a new mooring system that has been planned to eliminate the need for the tugboat to hold the docking barge in place.
The Harbors Division has filed plans with the Corps of Engineers for a permit to install a mooring system that would hold the docking barge away from the pier when it is not in use. A system of cables and winches would move the barge in place for use when the Superferry docks.
"The tug assist was always an interim solution to the problem," Formby said. "For the long term, we have applied for a permit with the Army Corps of Engineers to put in a new type of mooring that would hold the barge off the pier 95 percent of the time."
The cost of the proposed mooring system is undetermined. Who will pay for it is also undetermined.
A Hawaii Superferry official said the company supports the plans and is discussing the costs with the Department of Transportation.
"Given the situation in the harbor, that really is a very good solution," said Rick Houck, vice president for operations. "In terms of funding it, we don't know how much it will cost until we have a bid. I'm sure the state wants us to pay for it, and I'm sure we want the state to pay for it.
"There have been discussions. We haven't figured out who's going to fund it."
Formby said the state Harbors Division has no funds for further harbor improvements related to the Superferry, "unless we go back to the Legislature and request an additional appropriation."
"The mooring system will have to be paid for by someone other than the state. In my mind, the best option is for the Superferry to pay for the improvements it will be using," he said.
"It's not uncommon in the state harbors for a harbor operator to spend for improvements that it will be using."
He noted that Hawaii Superferry already has taken over the costs of the tugboat to hold the docking barge in place. The state was paying for the service but told Superferry that it would have to be responsible for the costs as of Oct. 1.
In agreeing to accommodate the Superferry at four Hawaii ports, the state Harbors Division was allowed a $40 million reimbursable bond - a general obligation bond float with repayment from the Harbors Fund, which is supported by harbors fees.
The Superferry plan originally was to provide services between Honolulu Harbor and Kahului Harbor, Nawiliwili Harbor on Kauai and Kawaihae Harbor on the Big Island. When the first ferry, the Alakai, was put into service in August 2007, the operations were blocked on Maui by a court ruling that the state was required to prepare an environmental assessment before allowing the project to proceed. On Kauai, protesters in the harbor blocked the ferry from entering Nawiliwili - leading to several arrests but also leading Hawaii Superferry to defer Kauai service.
Two weeks ago, the company announced it was also deferring its Big Island route, which was scheduled to start in 2009, although it still is accepting a second ferry being built for the Big Island route. The company cited the weak economic conditions nationally and internationally, with Chief Executive Officer Tom Fargo saying a delay in start of service "provides us with additional time to develop this market."
The company also has been reducing its trips between Oahu and Maui. In October, it cut the Tuesday round trip from its schedule. Beginning Dec. 1, it will operate only a single round trip, six days a week between Honolulu and Kahului.
Information on the request for the procurement exemption can be found online at hawaii. gov/spo2/exempt103d/. Objections to the request must be filed by Tuesday.
Edwin Tanji can be reached at citydesk@mauinews.com.
